The Hoofnagle-Runnels University of Georgia Student Government Association Web Archive

Introduction

For a short time in the late nineties, the University of Georgia Student Government Association exceeded its traditional role of serving as the yes-men for the school administration. A number of activists, including Brett Newman, Chris Hoofnagle, Michael Runnels, Rabun Wiley, and others changed the landscape. We were on the cutting edge of student rights leadership, attempting to address landlord abuses of students, credit card hawking on campus, pedestrian safety issues, minority student recruitment and retention, student autonomy, free expression issues, and the right of students to organize and collectively bargain. However, our efforts to bring progressive reform and to empower students were resisted by school administrators. It became clear that certain school administrators had institutionalized systems that made student decision making illusory. It was disheartening to work so hard to improve a school we loved dearly only to see it be controlled by mediocre administrators. These administrators, including Tom Cochran, David Porter, Danny Pugh, Dick Mullendore, Patricia Daugherty, and others deterred student leadership and rewarded sycophancy repeatedly.

This web page is an archive of some of our work. Most of these materials were removed by later SGA administrations. Currently, SGA has returned to its former level of mediocrity. Just check out the current SGA website, which features a picture of the weather in Athens.
--Chris Hoofnagle

Flyers

  • A flyer exhorting students to complain about the music in the Student Physical Activities Center. At the time, faculty were controlling the policies surrounding music content and volume. The pretentiousness of those Ph.Ds!
  • Flyer urging students to stay in Athens on the weekends.
  • Flyer urging students to join the External Affairs Committee.
  • Flyer urging students to become involved.
  • Athens-Clarke County is Unfair to Students!
  • Flyer with a quote from a federal judge claiming that the Single-Family Definition was designed to control the UGA student population.
  • Flyer promoting the "Common Enemy" presentation
  • Flyer about sales taxes and a new ordinance that forced the bars in Athens to close at 2:45 AM. In its original form, this flyer was censored by the UGA administration. Originally, it read "UGA, are you pissed..." For whatever reason, the college administrators thought the word "pissed" was too risque for adult college students.
  • Flyer promoting the External Affairs Committee Website, which at one point was the most comprehensive student rights web site in the country.
  • Flyer explaining how the Athens-Clarke County government transferred tax burdens onto students with the Homestead Exemption.
  • Flyer explaining jury duty service in Athens.
  • Flyer asking students to mail blank "postage paid by addressee" cards back to the Rooster chewing tobacco company. Rooster inundated college campuses with advertising for chewing tobacco in the late nineties. It worked. Within a year or so, Rooster sales exploded among college-aged students. The UGA administration did little--if anything--to deter any type of harmful commercial speech on campus unless it had to do with alcohol.
  • Flyer showing how the Athens-Clarke County had diluted student voting power. This was my favorite flyer.

    • Notes

  • Personal notes used when delivering the "Is this Fair" presentation. Includes Hume's paradox, detail of regulations affecting student behavior.
  • Notes used for a speech on the honor code to incoming freshpersons.
  • Notes for a Senate speech on 2.2.98.
  • Notes for a talk on the Athens-Clarke County Single-Family Definition.
  • Notes for a talk on giving effective teaching evaluations, and on the city's awful taxicab service.
  • Talking points for a presentation on beer and wine sales in the Tate Center.
  • Talking points for a presentation on student fees. The goal here was to take control of the administrative budget, which consumed a huge amount of student activities fee.
  • Notes for a September 3, 1999 meeting with VPSA Richard Mullendore.
  • Notes for a presentation on sidewalk chalk and free expression issues at UGA.

    • Documents

  • Resolution 11-01, opposing the Athens-Clarke County Single-Family Definition.
    The Single-Family Definition was used to keep students out of certain neighborhoods (the nice ones).
  • Red and Black Column on the Single Family Definition.
  • Platform for the Buck Levins/Jennifer Martin Presidential Bid.
  • A series of constitutional amendments written by Runnels and Hoofnagle. Some of these bills passed. This document includes a bill calling for the creation of a standing minority affairs committee (which was eliminated by a previous SGA administration), provisions for expanding the size of SGA by 30% (UGA's SGA is abnormally small and weak), a bill that gave SGA the power to choose its own advisor (our faculty advisor, who was appointed by the administration, was "captured" by the administration), a bill to require SGA senators to serve during the summer months, a bill to eliminate religious language from the SGA constitution, a bill to eliminate the vote of confidence (a referendum taking place every four years that allowed students to dissolve SGA), a bill that would eliminate the requirement that the administration approve SGA constitutional amendments (yes, believe it or not, the UGA administration had veto power over SGA actions), and a bill that allowed SGA to conduct paper elections (we were always suspicious that the student affairs administrators could control the elections; this was an attempt to do an off-line election that Tom Cochran could not interfere with).
  • A bylaw amendment to establish a recusal requirement. This was added to the bylaws after we discovered that individuals in "greek" social groups were quietly loading committees and boards with their girlfriends/boyfriends, frat brothers, and sorority sisters.
  • A constitutional amendment to create a standing External Affairs Committee.
  • The SGA Constitution in April 1999.
  • Freshman Board application in Fall 1999. We tried very hard to tailor this application to find independent thinkers and individuals who were activists.
  • The Student Activity Fee: Where Does Your Money Go?
    The answer is simple: It's used for salaries of employees that students neither hire nor review!
  • A memo to Tricia Page and Corey Stern on Richard Mullendore. At this preliminary meeting with Richard Mullendore, VPSA, it was clear that he had a paternalistic approach to student affairs administration. I remember that day. Mullendore had some sign on his table that read "ENTP," referring to the Myers-Briggs personality test.
  • A series of memoranda on student fees and VPSA dominance in spending student money. These memoranda detail how student money is controlled and how VPSA officials (Tom Cochran) convinced students to ask for an increase in activity fees where there was already a $1 million surplus.
  • Some articles clipped by Hoofnagle showing what other SGAs were doing. (And what UGA's SGA was not doing.)
  • A suggested reading list for External Affairs Committee members.
  • A handout given at the SEC-SEA conference on student rights, evaluation of local politics in college towns, and standards for evaluating student affairs "professionals."

    • Letters

  • Letter to Alan Barber regarding litter on campus.
  • Letter to Ms. Barrett regarding voter registration.
  • Letter to all law students on various student issues.
  • Letter to the creators of the DAMN! Show, a television program that was banned from the local cable system. The University did nothing to assist the students who produced the show.
  • Letter to Jim Day regarding commuter-school mentality among Resident Assistants.
  • Letter to Academic Deans regarding student fees.
  • Letter to Academic Deans regarding their apathetic students.
  • Letter to our apathetic professors about their apathetic students.
  • Letter to Academic Deans urging them to get out the vote.
  • Letter to Michael Floyd, a remarkably mediocre administrator, on the need for a commuter meal plan.
  • Letter to Pat Johnson regarding advertising practices of food services.
  • Letter to Karen Holbrook regarding minority retention rates.
  • Letter to County Commissioner Kilpatrick on Lumpkin Street saftey issues.
  • Letter to Mark Niesse, a Read and Black reporter, on the Single-Family Definition.
  • Open records request to Deputy Marshall Hunt for investigative documents relating to enforcement of the Single-Family Definition in Athens.
  • Letter to Assistant Vice Presidents of Student Affairs urging them to hold a forum on their educational philosophy. The point of this letter was to demonstrate that the administrators did not have a philosophy other than mere paternalism.
  • Letter to the Editor of Athens Daily News on parking issues.
  • Letter to the Allocations Committee. In 1999, the administration put pressure on Tricia Page and Corey Stern to exclude Hoofnagle from the student activities fee allocation committee. As a result, Hoofnagle penned this letter, a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine administrative power in the allocations process. At the time, an AVPSA named Tom Cochran effectively controlled the committee and held students in the dark about a majority of expenditures of student fees. This letter actuated the students on the 1999 allocations committee to inquire into the spending habits of the administration, which consumed over 50% of student activities fees. Students had not exercised oversight of these expenditures for over a decade. The administration liked it that way.
  • Letter to Richard Butler on Allocations issues.
  • Letter to Alan Barber on Physical Plant workers driving on campus.
  • Letter to Brian Blessenger on summary dismissal, student fees, and student decision making.
  • Letter to Tom Cochran. While regarded highly by many student "leaders," Tom was an opponent of student rights and autonomy. He would stoop to almost any low to ensure administrative dominance over all aspects of decision making.
  • Letter to all professors advocating participation in the "Day of Action."
  • Letter to Holly Gooding regarding the Freshman Board selection committee. This letter and information sheet emphasized the idea that members of the committee should recuse themselves when friends, girlfriends, frat brothers, etc. appeared before the committee. We had real problems with frat boys and sorority chicks secretly loading committees and giving appointments to their friends.
  • Letter to all student chief officers on the Student Activity Fee Review Committee.
  • Letter to Kyle Wingfield criticizing Tom Cochran and some of the vacuous administrators at OVPSA. Kyle had just written a column critical of SGA, and I felt it necessary to respond to some factual errors.
  • Stern letter to Mullendore and Cochran regarding Cochran's sneaky behavior. Cochran was trying to kill some measures that Hoofnagle had passed. The measures would have allowed SGA to appoint its own faculty advisor (a radical idea at UGA), and eliminate the confidence vote. At the time, UGA students voted every four years to decide whether to keep SGA. This confidence vote kept SGA weak, and student affairs administrators supported it.
  • Letter to Tiffany Smith on student speakers at graduation and graduating with honors.
  • Another sharp letter to Mullendore criticizing his staff for rewarding obsequious students.
  • Letter to Pat Johnson on sidewalk chalk. The school administration had banned the use of sidewalk chalk. We felt that the prohibition quelled expression, as there were no other methods of reaching students with a message without buying advertising.

    • Press Releases

  • Press Release for SGA meeting.
  • Press Release on ACC treatment of the Widespread Panic Concert.
  • Press Release for EAC voter registration drive.
  • Press Release on a resolution condemning the Single Family Definition.
  • Press Release announcing a "best and worst" landlord contest.
  • Press Release announcing revamp of SGA website.

    • Administrative

  • External Affairs Committee Agenda for February 2, 1999.
  • External Affairs Committee Agenda for April 14, 1998.
  • External Affairs Committee Report for April 15, 1998.
  • External Affairs Committee Agenda for April 28, 1998.
  • External Affairs Committee Agenda for September 1, 1998.
  • External Affairs Committee Agenda for September 15, 1998.
  • Bill Passage Protocols.
    .

    • EAC and O Tempora! Listservs Archive

  • alcohol...tenure...police..., Wed, 30 Sep 1998 15:17:54 -0500.
  • Welcome!, Wed, 30 Sep 1998 09:56:29 -0500
  • professors that suck...a superintendent that sucks, Thu, 1 Oct 1998 10:42:29 -0500
  • Popular Demand, Thu, 1 Oct 1998 21:36:18 -0500
  • Damn, tell'em like it is prof!, Fri, 2 Oct 1998 08:50:55 -0500
  • Events..., Mon, 5 Oct 1998 06:55:41 -0500
  • Debates...events, Tue, 6 Oct 1998 10:58:38 -0500
  • great events, Wed, 7 Oct 1998 11:42:54 -0500
  • some news, Thu, 8 Oct 1998 11:31:32 -0500
  • Freeloading...and Ignobels!, Fri, 9 Oct 1998 11:34:40 -0500
  • News and events, Mon, 12 Oct 1998 08:56:37 -0500
  • On Campus Bookstore Legislation!, Mon, 12 Oct 1998 11:57:04 -0500
  • Leave me alone Dad!, Mon, 19 Oct 1998 22:10:20 -0500
  • BREWFEST!, Wed, 21 Oct 1998 09:48:02 -0500
  • News, Thu, 22 Oct 1998 10:54:02 -0500
  • News,Fri, 23 Oct 1998 10:03:39 -0500
  • Getting Paid...the GMAT, Fri, 23 Oct 1998 17:23:03 -0500
  • News, Mon, 26 Oct 1998 12:41:39 -0600
  • News, Tue, 27 Oct 1998 10:55:18 -0600
  • Adams and Tenure, Wed, 28 Oct 1998 12:46:29 -0600
  • Student Fee Restrictions, Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:26:47 -0600
  • Events, lies and more lies..., Sun, 1 Nov 1998 20:32:40 -0600
  • Events and rapist pleads guilty, Wed, 4 Nov 1998 16:24:19 -0600
  • Events, Sun, 8 Nov 1998 12:07:48 -0600
  • Parking and TAs, Mon, 9 Nov 1998 12:58:56 -0600
  • Parking, Wed, 11 Nov 1998 08:07:12 -0500
  • Master Plan, Thu, 12 Nov 1998 10:48:55 -0600
  • News and Events, Mon, 16 Nov 1998 09:43:04 -0600
  • Pedestrian Safety, Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:13:04 -0600
  • News, Sun, 22 Nov 1998 12:50:57 -0600
  • The Explanation!, Mon, 23 Nov 1998 09:43:52 -0600
  • News, Wed, 25 Nov 1998 09:01:37 -0600
  • News and Events, Sun, 29 Nov 1998 10:23:16 -0600

    • Student Rights Links and Materials

  • About the External Affairs Committee.
  • Administrative Structure of UGA in 1998.
  • A book list compiled from RATM.
  • EAC page on cable television in Athens.
  • EAC page on the Single-Family Definition.
  • EAC page on Landlord/Tenant Law and Security Deposits in Georgia. At the time, it was common practice in Athens for landlord to keep students' security deposits. UGA did nothing to stop it. In fact, student affairs administrators resisted efforts and suggestions to help students on these issues. At other schools, the student affairs administrators had created legal clinics and off-campus housing offices to assist students with landlord/tenant conflicts.
  • EAC page on how to write an effective teaching evaluation.
  • EAC page on the student activity fee.
  • EAC page on "studentmandering," the practice of drawing voting districts to disenfranchise students.
  • EAC page on how to improve your teaching evaluations.
  • EAC page on jury duty in Athens, GA.
  • EAC news resources available online in 1999.
  • EAC page with a sample open records request.
  • EAC page on property tax in Athens, GA.
  • EAC page on pedestrian safety.
  • EAC page on SPLOST.
  • EAC page with Michael Adams' 1998 State of the University Address.
  • EAC page with Michael Adams' 1999 State of the University Address.
  • EAC page detailing the awful taxi service in Athens, GA.
  • EAC page with Hoofnagle column on a tenant union.
  • EAC page on tests and quizzes deliver on the last three days of class.
  • Application for the Freshman Board in 1999.
  • SGA Institutional History Page. This contains documents from SGA archives for approximately ten years.
  • Michael Adams' 1998 State of the University Address.
  • Michael Adams' 1999 State of the University Address.
  • Bills and Resolutions Considered during the 1999-2000 term.
  • Declaration on the Civic Responsibilities of Higher Education.
  • Guide to security deposits for renters. At the time, Athens landlords regularly took security deposits from student tenants in violation of Georgia Code. Few students knew that under Georgia law, the landlord had to send a letter explaining any charges and a check for the remainder of the deposits within 30 days of the end of the lease. Landlords who violated the law were technically subject to a 3x damages statute. But, the judges in Athens never actually impose triple damages. (They had to maintain their chances of being reelected.)
  • Brochure of landlord/tenant responsibilities.